


See Another Day

by lucymonster



Series: Reylo snippets [8]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo is a Mess, Bittersweet, Developing Relationship, Drunken Confessions, Extra Treat, F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22707871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/pseuds/lucymonster
Summary: The war is over, they've both survived, and life is supposed to be easy now.It's not. But Rey and Ben are working on it.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylo snippets [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1318712
Comments: 18
Kudos: 69
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	See Another Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darlingargents](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingargents/gifts).



‘I thought I was going to die,’ says Ben. ‘On Exegol.’

They’re walking back to their hotel, past late-night shops and food vendors wafting rich aromas down the lane. Rey’s walking, at least. Ben’s performing a maneuver she hasn’t seen from him before: part meandering sway, part stagger. She’s never known him to drink so heavily – but in fairness, she’s never really known him at all, not in the mundane shared-hotel-room sense of recent days. 

Eufornis Major is a long way from the battlefields and spiritual planes where they forged their bond. This rendezvous was Lando’s idea, full of booze and Sabacc lounges and exhilarated Resistance fighters still going strong on their weeks-long victory celebrations. Rey can’t fault Ben for wanting a little liquid courage. The list of people who are glad she brought him is three letters long.

‘I thought we were both going to die,’ she says. ‘But we’re here. We made it out alive.’ They’ll make it to their hotel room, too, though it’ll be a slow trip if Rey ends up having to carry Ben. With or without Force-aided strength, he outweighs her by a lot.

‘I know.’ Ben looks wistful. ‘But I really thought I was going to die.’

‘You sound disappointed.’

She’s teasing, but Ben nods solemnly. ‘It would have been better, don’t you think? All those people back at the lounge, they’d be happier if I’d died. It would have been a good death. A worthy end to a worthless life.’

‘Ben.’ Trust him to be a miserable drunk. ‘You don’t really believe–’

‘I thought about putting a blaster in my mouth.’

Rey stops walking. Ben stops too, standing hunch-shouldered in the middle of the lane, feet unsteady on the artfully uneven cobblestones. This precinct is one of the most beautiful places Rey has ever seen. Unscathed by the war, its every potted fern and string of lights seems custom made to evoke a feeling of cosy luxury. He looks as out of place as she feels. After the battles they’ve fought and survived, the many times they’ve tried to kill each other, the image of him dying by his own hand refuses to settle in her mind. It’s all wrong.

She doesn’t know what to say.

‘Don’t worry,’ Ben adds after a silent moment. ‘I’m as selfish now as I ever was, and I like being alive. If your friends want me dead they’ll have to pull the trigger themselves.’

‘No one wants–’ That’s a lie. ‘I like you being alive, too. I’m so glad you didn’t die on Exegol. Don’t ever think things like that, okay?’

He just shrugs.

'You're going to get through this, Ben. I believe that. The hardest part is already behind you. You turned, you came home, and your story's only just beginning. The others will come around. You'll find your place.'

'I already know my place,' Ben slurs. He's mostly looking her in the eye, but his vision keeps slipping off to the side. 'It's with you.'

Then, without taking a step or in any way attempting to move, he sways so dramatically on the spot that Rey lunges forward on instinct to catch him. That much, at least, she can do. 'Okay. See that food cart over there? We're getting you something to eat, right now. And then we're going back to the hotel and putting you to bed.'

He's docile as she leads him to the cart, where an aproned vendor is doling out plates of steaming noodles tossed with sweet, rich sauce and aromatic herbs. They're like nothing Rey has ever eaten before. By all rights this place should be perfect. The war is over, and life's supposed to be easy now.

It's not. But they're alive, at least. They can figure out the rest as they go.


End file.
